JAIPUR: After the March 22 crackdown against illegal gravel mines in Mewat's Pahari region resulting in the arrest of 97 people, some politicians had approached chief minister Ashok Gehlot against

JAIPUR: To curb illegal mining in the state, the Rajasthan government will start a campaign from April 16th to June 15th. The two-month drive will be carried out in all the districts of the state, with a special focus on regions where the illegal activities are rampant.

Task forces at district and at sub-divisional levels have been formed. Focus will be in areas like Bharatpur, Alwar, Karauli and Bhilwara.
"All the districts in the state have been informed to carry out the inspections at mining sites. Authorities will take strict and effective action against the culprits," said Sudhanshu Pant, secretary, mines and petroleum.

Wilting under pressure from the Centre and after constant raps by the Supreme Court, the state government has now put a step forward in stopping illegal mining. A special 1000-member team, to be christened Mining Protection Force, will be set up to curb illegal mining in the state.

The state has long been battling illegal mining right from Alwar to Jaisalmer but in vain. While the police had recently detained over 100 people in Bharatpur engaged in illegal extraction of stones, in Jaisalmer mining near the airport has become a threat to its existence.

The manufacturing unit of the State-run National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) now faces a serious threat of being closed down on account of the company's inability to manage massive amounts of fly ash.

In a letter addressed to B.L. Bagra, NALCO's chairman-cum-MD, the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) said it will be forced to close down its 1,200 mw-capacity Captive Power Plant, critical for running a smelter unit at Angul in Odisha, unless the company takes up the disposal of fly ash on a war footing.

JAIPUR/ALWAR: In one of the biggest crackdowns on illegal mining in state's Mewat region in the recent past, police on Thursday arrested over 100 people from unlawful gravel mines in Pahari police station area in Bharatpur district and seized equipment worth crores of rupees. Besides, few persons were also detained.

Three more cities are switching over to Bharat Stage (BS)-4 emission norms from Thursday. These cities are Ankaleshwar in Gujarat, Hisar in Haryana and Bharatpur in Rajasthan.

Already 13 cities, including Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Surat, Kanpur, Agra, Lucknow and Solapur are implementing the BS-4 emission norms from 2010 when the national auto fuel policy was announced.

Jaipur: Malnutrition among children in Rajasthan has taken ominous proportions. The Hungama (Hunger and Malnutrition) survey carried out recently by Naandi Foundation indicates that the situation in many districts has worsened when compared to what it was about a decade back.

The Hungama Survey, released on Tuesday by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, mentions 10 districts in Rajasthan. These districts are among a sample size of 112 districts in the country.

The Rajasthan Cabinet on Monday put its seal of approval on a controversial decision to give khatedari rights to over 30,000 farmers occupying the custodian land in Alwar, Bharatpur, Hanumangarh an

To foster public awareness about the need to protect the country's diminishing tiger population, former MP Kamal Morarka is presenting a weeklong solo exhibition of pictures of the magnificent big

JAIPUR: A study would soon be instituted at Keoladeo birds sanctuary in Bharatpur to understand the changes in the bio-diversity of the park after the recent introduction of water from Chambal rive